DOJ denies Prop. 37 investigation

The Prop. 37 campaign, backer of a measure that would require most foods made with genetically modified ingredients to be labeled in California, started its day with a bang.

Four days before the election, it announced that the FBI has opened a criminal investigation into its opposition for feloniously using the seal of the United States Food and Drug Administration in its mailers — basically trying to make it look like the FDA endorses the No on 37 campaign — and held a telephone press conference.

The so-called criminal investigation, however, was news to the U.S. Department of Justice, which quickly responded.

“Neither the FBI nor this office has a pending investigation related to this matter,” Lauren Horwood, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento, said in a statement.

Joe Sandler, a lawyer for the Prop. 37 campaign, said two weeks ago his staff contacted the office to complain about the misuse of the FDA’s official seal in the opposition’s campaign literature and was notified by a Sacramento FBI agent Thursday that investigators were looking into the allegation.

Horwood, though, told The Chronicle that it was nothing more than a courtesy call. The U.S. Attorney has referred the matter to the FDA, which was already aware of the issue.

Last month, the federal agency issued a statement denying any affiliation with the No on 37 group, including a mailer that might have looked like it was attributed to the FDA, saying that GMO labeling is “inherently misleading.”

But Friday’s incident has put the opposition on the offensive.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures it seems,” wrote Kathy Fairbanks, spokeswoman for the No on 37 campaign.

The most recent Pepperdine University poll shows support for the proposition weakening in the weeks before the election.